Starmer denies waging class war as farmers talk of being 'betrayed'

Keir Starmer has denied that he is mounting a class war by targeting wealthy landowners and private schools, after the head of the National Farmers' Union accused the government of an extraordinary "betrayal" over inheritance tax changes.

- Joanna Partridge ,Helena Horton , Jessica Elgot

In an escalating war of words between food producers and ministers, the NFU president, Tom Bradshaw, called the government's budget measures a "stab in the back", after the sector had been previously told that taxes such as agricultural property relief would not be changed. He was addressing hundreds of farmers who had travelled to London to lobby their local MPs.

Starmer told reporters at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro that the government was taking a "balanced approach" to fund public services and called on farmers to think about the money needed for schools and hospitals in rural communities.

Asked if he was mounting a class war on the wealthiest, Starmer told Sky: "It isn't at all what we're doing. It's a balanced approach. We have to fill a black hole which was left by the last government."

In London, Bradshaw told a room of about 600 farmers: "I don't think I have ever seen the industry this angry, this disillusioned, this upset."

He described the measures as a "shocking policy, built on bad data, and launched with no consultation".